As an investor, enthusiast and entrepreneur, I'm fascinated by blockchain and exploring its impact on society and the way we go about everything, from governance, exchanging value or running an agile business that is able to ride the waves of exponential change.
What is becoming increasingly interesting to me is how decentralisation of organisational structures using blockchain / distributed ledger technology (DLT) can empower employees and enable them to become beneficiaries of the true value that they add to an organisation, even after they have moved on. This is in stark contrast to the existing paradigm where employee pay is typically squeezed in order to create maximum value for external shareholders who remain beneficiaries indefinitely for as long as they hold shares.
For example, if an employee has contributed significantly to a project, typically the value that they add may or may not be remunerated appropriately. However, in the case of a decentralised organisation, it is possible for product ideas, business opportunities or concepts to be tokenised, allowing for a way to quantify their impact and value added as they permeate an organisation. In the case of successful ideas, the tokens that are issued could essentially pay micro-royalties as a form of passive income to all contributors. The ability to monetise intellectual capital in this way is significant as it will incentivise creativity and restore balance to a system that is typically stacked against the labour force and more favourably towards shareholders.
Outside of creating a fairer, more equitable future for a workforce, there are numerous other benefits to decentralisation, including faster decision making, greater transparency/accountability and improved security (removal of the single point of failure that is present in centralised systems).
As I'm currently studying the Oxford Blockchain Strategy programme, I'm interested to learn more about other peoples thoughts and experiences with decentralisation and how companies are responding to and preparing for this huge shift. Feel free to get in touch and help unpack this further.
Until next time!
Howard